Our millennium-old romance with the tales of the ancient Silk Road continues to fascinate us all and shows no signs of abating. Like a phoenix repeatedly rising from its ashes, the memories of the road's ordeals and achievements constantly turn our attention to images of heavily laden camel caravans treading their way amidst a dusty twilight of churning haze. In our minds we bring to life the harmonic footsteps of the camel trains that reduce the sinking sun in the far horizon into a pale reddish disc. Yet like erect sentries, the surrounding majestic snow-capped mountains beckoned the entrepreneurial merchants on foot to riches hidden deep in valleys accessed only through high and perilous passes. These courageous men were the catalyst not only for the trade of their earthly goods but also of the less tangible commodities that promised the receptive ears a paradise in heaven.
The author's engaging description of how the world's greatest religions permeated and changed ancient China is augmented by colour photographs taken during the author's personal travels. Here the ancient history of humanity's greatest missionary enterprises is dissected for the reader and highlighted by some of the unknown treasures of the Silk Road. The geographic importance of many ancient areas now occupied by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are also discussed in the unfolding of this history. With concise narratives the author assesses the legacies of the men of the Silk Road who brought the beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China.
Jacob G. Ghazarian, D.Phil. is an independent scholar associated with Wolfson College, University of Oxford where he has conducted his research for more than a decade on the impact of religions upon the socio-political fabric of regional indigenous populations. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

This unique study bridges the history of the Crusades with the history of Armenian nationalism and Christianity. To the Crusaders, Armenian Christians presented the only reliable allies in Anatolia and Asia Minor, and were pivotal in the founding of the Crusader principalities of Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem and Tripoli. The Anatolian kingdom of Cilicia was founded by the Roupenian dynasty (mid 10th to late 11th century), and grew under the collective rule of the Hetumian dynasty (late 12th to mid 14th century). After confrontations with Byzantium, the Seljuks and the Mongols, the Second Crusade led to the crowning of the first Cilician king despite opposition from Byzantium. Following the Third Crusade, power shifted in Cilicia to the Lusignans of Cyprus (mid to late 14th century), culminating in the final collapse of the kingdom at the hands of the Egyptian Mamluks.

A history of the Crusades merged with a history of the Armenian Christians, who were pivotal in the founding of Crusader principalities and of the Anatolian kingdom of Cilicia. The Second Crusade led to the crowning of the first Cilician king despite opposition from Byzantium. After the Third Crusade, power shifted to the Lusignans of Cyprus, culminating in the collapse of the kingdom at the hands of the Egyptian Mamluks.

Our millennium-old romance with the tales of the ancient Silk Road continues to fascinate us all and shows no signs of abating. Like a phoenix repeatedly rising from its ashes, the memories of the road's ordeals and achievements constantly turn our attention to images of heavily laden camel caravans treading their way amidst a dusty twilight of churning haze. In our minds we bring to life the harmonic footsteps of the camel trains that reduce the sinking sun in the far horizon into a pale reddish disc. Yet like erect sentries, the surrounding majestic snow-capped mountains beckoned the entrepreneurial merchants on foot to riches hidden deep in valleys accessed only through high and perilous passes. These courageous men were the catalyst not only for the trade of their earthly goods but also of the less tangible commodities that promised the receptive ears a paradise in heaven.
The author's engaging description of how the world's greatest religions permeated and changed ancient China is augmented by colour photographs taken during the author's personal travels. Here the ancient history of humanity's greatest missionary enterprises is dissected for the reader and highlighted by some of the unknown treasures of the Silk Road. The geographic importance of many ancient areas now occupied by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are also discussed in the unfolding of this history. With concise narratives the author assesses the legacies of the men of the Silk Road who brought the beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China.
Jacob G. Ghazarian, D.Phil. is an independent scholar associated with Wolfson College, University of Oxford where he has conducted his research for more than a decade on the impact of religions upon the socio-political fabric of regional indigenous populations. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.